Bank Alkhair, a Bahrain-headquartered Islamic wholesale bank, has announced the successful closure of the first tranche of a $750 million sukuk programme by Saudi Arabia's Dar Al Arkan real estate development company.

Bank Alkhair jointly led the sukuk programme, which is based on the Islamic wakala structure.

The programme was for funding of Dar Al Arkan's current and upcoming development projects.

The bank also acted as the Sharia adviser.

The first issue, a benchmark sized, five-year, Regulation S issue (Reg S), was offered on May 20.

The sukuk, which offers investors a coupon of 5.75 per cent, received an overwhelming response from regional and international investors and was significantly oversubscribed.

Dar Al Arkan opted to close the issue at $450m on May 21, despite receiving four-fold subscription and the overall book order reaching $1.68 billion.